1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a toner cartridge and more specifically, to a switching mechanism for a toner cartridge that is not easy to get permanent deformation and has low manufacturing costs.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japan Patent No. 2005107141 discloses a conventional switching mechanism 40, comprising a base 60 mounted on a bottom plate 33 of a toner cartridge 30, and a sliding member 50 disposed between the base 60 and the bottom plate 33. When the toner cartridge 30 is installed in an image forming apparatus 20, the sliding member 50 is forced to move such that an outlet 511 of the toner cartridge 30 is opened. On the contrary, once the toner cartridge 30 is drawn out from the image forming apparatus 20, the sliding member 50 will be moved back to an initial position to close the outlet 511.
Because the base 60 is provided with a mating part to be cooperated with the sliding member 50 including a suspension arm 53 and a flexible arm 55, the switching mechanism 40 has the drawback of complicated structure such that a mold for the switching mechanism 40 is difficult to manufacture, resulting in high manufacturing costs. Further, the suspension arm 53 of the sliding member 50 is easy to get permanent deformed, possibly causing an erroneous operation. Therefore, it is a need to provide an improved switching mechanism for the toner cartridge.